Since fighting Nate Diaz at
UFC 219 is apparently no longer an option, Tyron
Woodley is going to make sure he is 100 percent healthy before
he makes his next Octagon appearance.

While UFC President Dana White told reporters on Tuesday that
Woodley vs. Diaz was never a possibility for the Dec. 30 card in
Las Vegas, multiple outlets had confirmed that that the 170-pound
title affair was indeed in the works. Meanwhile, Richard
Perez, Nate Diaz’s
longtime boxing coach, said his fighter
would need somewhere in the neighborhood of $15 million to face
Woodley. Woodley himself said both fighters had been offered the
bout.

Now, it appears that a women’s featherweight championship clash
between Cristiane
Justino and Holly Holm
will serve as the headliner for UFC 219.

“Unfortunately, it would have been a crazy card Dec. 30 in Las
Vegas I believe and it would have been a crazy end of the year,”
Woodley said. “Unfortunately, it’s not taking place. I won’t be
fighting Nate Diaz.
That’s how the cookie crumbles.”

In the meantime, Woodley says he is working on another movie and
will continue his role as a studio analyst for Fox Sports 1. While
he would’ve been willing to face Diaz with a bum shoulder, that
won’t be the case for the welterweight champion’s next potential
foe.

“I am gonna go ahead and undergo the surgery on my shoulder. I
decided a couple days ago,” Woodley said. “It’s gonna be a bummer,
but at the end of the day if nobody want to step up and fight
somebody that’s not even 100 percent in their one shoulder, then I
might as well get my shoulder to where it should be so I can
continue [to defend] my belt with a little less risk.”